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- Nov 23, 2014
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2020 POTD Thread Archive
- Thread starter eugene13
- Start date
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2018
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- 6,868
Oh yeah, evacuating the cabinet makes a huge difference in visibility and dust control. I recommend it highly.
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2014
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- 3,597
It's all about CFM (cubic feet per minuite).
CFM the nozzle is emitting vs CFM the vacuum is evacuating.
A .125" orifice will pass about 21 CFM of air (100 PSI venting to atmosphere).
Makers of inexpensive shop vacuums are not usually forthcoming with proper technical specifications (because they're crap).
However, it would be a very low performance model that wouldn't draw 21 CFM.
It's better (for dust evacuation) to provide a fresh air inlet port in the cabinet and a vacuum system cable of much higher CFM than the media nozzle is putting out.
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- Nov 23, 2014
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POTD was cleaning up the wiring job for the HF sand blaster cabinet. The cabinet is vented, so shouldn't blow up like a balloon with 100 psi air about about 7 cfm blowing in. But to Extropic's point, at least give the option of throwing a shop vac on it.
Been a while since I've done the chemistry/physics, but maybe Boyle's law (P1V1 = P2V2) comes in effect here. The most vacuum the shop vac can draw is 14.7 psi, and it's rated at 200 CFM. The sand blaster is using 100 psi air, my Campbell Hausfeld compressor is rated at 8 cfm at 90 psi. The compressor does not continuously run when sand blasting, but for worst case purposes, we'll say it's 100 psi at 8 cfm. So compressor is delivering 800 psi*cf/minute while the shop vac is drawing maybe 1400 psi*cf/minute (assuming a 7 psi vacuum which is a swag). The shop vac will likely draw more air than the sand blaster is spewing (fingers crossed).
The cabinet is vented, but man is it hard to see when the media starts floating around
I have a 5-gallon pail as a pre-dump reservoir on my shop vac. Makes for a quick dump when vacuuming out the Tormach or lathe. Just pop the top and dump in the waste can. Plan is to empty the 5-gallon pail before firing up the sand blaster and plumb it to the cabinet. It should do a good job collecting the media which will get dumped back into the blast cabinet. Probably need to throw a coffee filter over the outlet with a rubber band for the really fine stuff. But I guess that's what the filter in the shop vac is for.
Chucked up a 2 1/4" Delrin round to make an adapter for bringing the LED wiring out of the cabinet. The cabinet hole is a touch over 1.25", the one cable clamp I had needed a touch under a 13/16" hole. Drilled a 13/16" hole and checked the fit.
Turned a shoulder to 1.25" diameter about 0.040" deep. The shoulder will set in the hole in the cabinet and hold the washer/bushing on center. Made a flat washer also.
Ready to re-assemble. Cut a foam gasket from some left-over tool box drawer liner foam. The washer with the 1.25" shoulder goes on the outside with the shoulder in the hole. Cable plug goes through the hole in that washer. Foam gasket, flat washer and nut on the inside seal (hopefully) the cables out of the cabinet.
The LED lights had molded on end plugs which wouldn't fit through the electrical connector. So, snipped the wires and mounted a box. I think that's code, need access to mechanically spliced wires (?). Worked out better anyhow, the LED fixtures can be daisy-chained together, but the connecting plugs wouldn't quite fit in the cabinet. I had two 110's coming out of the cabinet, now have one that's securely tied to the box in case the lead gets yanked on. Looks a little kluged together, but should function much better.
Extropic, thanks for the suggestion. I don't mind re-doing stuff to make it right. We all can learn from others on this forum. Plus, our son will inherit my shop if he wants it. I'd rather him not have to work on "dad's crappy fixes". Do it right the first time and you won't have to re-do it.
Now just anxiously awaiting an Amazon delivery of some inside glass protectors and I'll fire it up. Looking forward to "seeing" (pun intended) how much better visibility I get with a shop vac moving the suspended media out of the air.
Thanks for looking, Bruce
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- Joined
- Nov 23, 2014
- Messages
- 2,634
Another POTD, shop organization for my Tormach mill. Did a couple of refinements for storage and usefulness. First was modifying a 16 x 30 HF cart for storage under the RH side of the mill.
I have a 4th axis for my Tormach, but haven't used it for any jobs yet (have two in the queue). Not slamming Tormach, but they did a crappy job on the design of their stepper controlled rotary table. The unit has to be mounted on the LH side of the table because of the position of the stepper motor. It's tall enough (I have the 8" table, they make a 6" one too) that tools in the automatic tool changer can whack the top of the rotary table during tool changes. Great, spend $5K for an auto-tool changer, but you can't use it for jobs that use the 4th axis. Tormach does offer a super-spacer with a tilting head that mounts to the RH side of the table. Frankly, my opinion is they should have looked a little harder for a rotary table that would have allowed the drive motor to mount to the opposite side. Anyway, on with the first part of the POTD.
I have a couple of 30 position 5C collet racks modified to hold the 3/4" TTS tool holders, but have around 75 TTS tool holders. I had a number of tool holders in a 20-position rack that hung on the chip pan, but had to remove it when I built the full enclosure. So, kill two birds with one stone; cut 8" off a 16 x 30 cart and use it to hold the 4th axis when not on the mill and the extra tool holders. I started with the 20-position tool rack.
The rack is meant to be hung, but it was going to set flat on the cart. Needed to make some legs for it to space it off the cart. Chucked up some 5/8" aluminum, turned a shoulder to 1/2" (the Tormach rack has 1/2" holes in it), center drilled, tap drilled and tapped. Then made some washers out of the same 5/8" aluminum. Parted to length and screwed the legs to the rack.
20-position hanging rack. Drilled a couple of 1/2" holes at the top for feet to match the two existing ones at the bottom.
Made 4 feet from 5/8" aluminum. Faced, turned a shoulder, center drilled, tap drilled, tapped and parted.
Made washers by center drilling, clearance drilled and parted.
Finished parts and the finished rack
Next came the 16 x 30 cart. Sawed 8" off from the four angle corner supports. Used one of my Sorensen Center Mike's to measure the slot to slot spacing (see honey, I used it. . .).
The vertical supports have a bead in the middle for stiffness. Mashed the area for new mounting slots flat on a 20-ton press.
Wrote a short CNC routine for my Bridgeport to knock in the new slots.
The assembled cart is a real "low-rider", but it works for me. It holds an addition 20 TTS tool holders, the 4th axis when not on the table, the 4th axis tail stock and the 3-jaw/4-jaw chucks for the 4th axis. Fits perfectly under the RH side of the chip pan.
Next was another "low-rider" cart for the LH side of the Tormach. I use a 27-gallon storage bin from Menards for the coolant tank. It sets under the LH side of the chip pan and has around 20-gallons of coolant in it. It was a bit of a pain to drag out from under the mill to check on the coolant, there's 160 lbs. of coolant there plus a sump pump.
I picked up a fair amount of Creform tubing from a Craig's list ad a while back. The stuff is great for making racks and carts. Made a cart to hold the coolant tank that's on casters. Didn't take pictures of the fab work, basically band saw cut the tubing to length and bolted it together. So much easier to roll the tank out to re-fill it.
Used 1" diameter stainless steel Creform tubing for the coolant cart.
Thanks for looking, Bruce
I have a 4th axis for my Tormach, but haven't used it for any jobs yet (have two in the queue). Not slamming Tormach, but they did a crappy job on the design of their stepper controlled rotary table. The unit has to be mounted on the LH side of the table because of the position of the stepper motor. It's tall enough (I have the 8" table, they make a 6" one too) that tools in the automatic tool changer can whack the top of the rotary table during tool changes. Great, spend $5K for an auto-tool changer, but you can't use it for jobs that use the 4th axis. Tormach does offer a super-spacer with a tilting head that mounts to the RH side of the table. Frankly, my opinion is they should have looked a little harder for a rotary table that would have allowed the drive motor to mount to the opposite side. Anyway, on with the first part of the POTD.
I have a couple of 30 position 5C collet racks modified to hold the 3/4" TTS tool holders, but have around 75 TTS tool holders. I had a number of tool holders in a 20-position rack that hung on the chip pan, but had to remove it when I built the full enclosure. So, kill two birds with one stone; cut 8" off a 16 x 30 cart and use it to hold the 4th axis when not on the mill and the extra tool holders. I started with the 20-position tool rack.
The rack is meant to be hung, but it was going to set flat on the cart. Needed to make some legs for it to space it off the cart. Chucked up some 5/8" aluminum, turned a shoulder to 1/2" (the Tormach rack has 1/2" holes in it), center drilled, tap drilled and tapped. Then made some washers out of the same 5/8" aluminum. Parted to length and screwed the legs to the rack.
20-position hanging rack. Drilled a couple of 1/2" holes at the top for feet to match the two existing ones at the bottom.
Made 4 feet from 5/8" aluminum. Faced, turned a shoulder, center drilled, tap drilled, tapped and parted.
Made washers by center drilling, clearance drilled and parted.
Finished parts and the finished rack
Next came the 16 x 30 cart. Sawed 8" off from the four angle corner supports. Used one of my Sorensen Center Mike's to measure the slot to slot spacing (see honey, I used it. . .).
The vertical supports have a bead in the middle for stiffness. Mashed the area for new mounting slots flat on a 20-ton press.
Wrote a short CNC routine for my Bridgeport to knock in the new slots.
The assembled cart is a real "low-rider", but it works for me. It holds an addition 20 TTS tool holders, the 4th axis when not on the table, the 4th axis tail stock and the 3-jaw/4-jaw chucks for the 4th axis. Fits perfectly under the RH side of the chip pan.
Next was another "low-rider" cart for the LH side of the Tormach. I use a 27-gallon storage bin from Menards for the coolant tank. It sets under the LH side of the chip pan and has around 20-gallons of coolant in it. It was a bit of a pain to drag out from under the mill to check on the coolant, there's 160 lbs. of coolant there plus a sump pump.
I picked up a fair amount of Creform tubing from a Craig's list ad a while back. The stuff is great for making racks and carts. Made a cart to hold the coolant tank that's on casters. Didn't take pictures of the fab work, basically band saw cut the tubing to length and bolted it together. So much easier to roll the tank out to re-fill it.
Used 1" diameter stainless steel Creform tubing for the coolant cart.
Thanks for looking, Bruce
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Well today I cleared up more stuff around the shop and set the pad for the bigger air compressor. Cut a few big pines down and one close call.
Also moving some dirt and adding asphalt millings for proper water drainage away from the shop.
That was a steep embankment like the other side full of bushes and small trees.
Also moving some dirt and adding asphalt millings for proper water drainage away from the shop.
That was a steep embankment like the other side full of bushes and small trees.
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2019
- Messages
- 6,873
Relocated the switch from the left side on my Unisaw to the front rail.
Took bleedin’ forever because it was so cramped. Happy it’s done though as reaching around the side was decidedly unsafe.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Took bleedin’ forever because it was so cramped. Happy it’s done though as reaching around the side was decidedly unsafe.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2014
- Messages
- 2,634
POTD was making a compressed air manifold. You can buy them for under $20 off Amazon and eBay, but what's the fun in that! My Tormach needs air for the power draw bar and auto tool changer, plus there's a blow gun on a separate hose. I had been using a Harbor Freight one->three adapter, but it didn't have a good way to mount it.
Started with a 1" x 1 1/2" chuck of 6061 aluminum and squared the ends. The HF adapter has an inlet of 3/8" and three 1/4" outlets, but I'm not feeding multiple high cfm draws, so planned everything to take a 1/4"-18 NPT. Google recommended a 27/64" tap drill. Started with a 3/8" stubby, then jobbers length, then to the 27/64" drill bits. I started with some prototype work by drilling a 27/64" hole in some scrap aluminum. Then tapped and crept up on the thread depth checking with an air fitting. When there, painted the tap to mark the proper depth so I didn't go way too far.
Set the block on end and verified it was square with a machinist square. Spot drilled, drilled with a 3/8" bit to 4+", then back with a 27/64" tap drill. Tapped with a spring center and wrench for starters, then moved on to the big tap wrench.
Set the block flat and drilled cross holes for 6 ports. Started with a 3/8" bit, then finished with a 27/64". tapped the three holes on one side, then flipped the block to do the opposite side.
Flipped the block to the back side to put in a couple of 1/4"-20's to screw it to a bar of aluminum. Spotted, tap drilled and hand tapped. I power tap on the Bridgeport all of the time, but these were blind holes. I didn't trust I'd reverse the tap at just the right time.
Used a piece of 3/8" thick aluminum bar stock for a mounting plate. Drilled 1/4" holes and countersunk the ones for attaching to the manifold with a 6-flute countersink. I learned something here, I've been running these WAY too fast in the past. I'd typically run them at around 800 rpm, but it ran so much smoother with the BP in back gear at about 150 rpm.
Screwed in some quick connects and bench tested it; no leaks! Screwed the manifold to the back of the Tormach.
The Tormach has one switchable outlet for coolant. Mine currently has a sump pump plugged in which does a great job with flood coolant. I plan on wiring a DPDT switch to the sump pump and an air valve so I can either use flood or mist/air at the throw of a switch. Hence, the 6 ports "just in case".
Thanks for looking,
Bruce
Started with a 1" x 1 1/2" chuck of 6061 aluminum and squared the ends. The HF adapter has an inlet of 3/8" and three 1/4" outlets, but I'm not feeding multiple high cfm draws, so planned everything to take a 1/4"-18 NPT. Google recommended a 27/64" tap drill. Started with a 3/8" stubby, then jobbers length, then to the 27/64" drill bits. I started with some prototype work by drilling a 27/64" hole in some scrap aluminum. Then tapped and crept up on the thread depth checking with an air fitting. When there, painted the tap to mark the proper depth so I didn't go way too far.
Set the block on end and verified it was square with a machinist square. Spot drilled, drilled with a 3/8" bit to 4+", then back with a 27/64" tap drill. Tapped with a spring center and wrench for starters, then moved on to the big tap wrench.
Set the block flat and drilled cross holes for 6 ports. Started with a 3/8" bit, then finished with a 27/64". tapped the three holes on one side, then flipped the block to do the opposite side.
Flipped the block to the back side to put in a couple of 1/4"-20's to screw it to a bar of aluminum. Spotted, tap drilled and hand tapped. I power tap on the Bridgeport all of the time, but these were blind holes. I didn't trust I'd reverse the tap at just the right time.
Used a piece of 3/8" thick aluminum bar stock for a mounting plate. Drilled 1/4" holes and countersunk the ones for attaching to the manifold with a 6-flute countersink. I learned something here, I've been running these WAY too fast in the past. I'd typically run them at around 800 rpm, but it ran so much smoother with the BP in back gear at about 150 rpm.
Screwed in some quick connects and bench tested it; no leaks! Screwed the manifold to the back of the Tormach.
The Tormach has one switchable outlet for coolant. Mine currently has a sump pump plugged in which does a great job with flood coolant. I plan on wiring a DPDT switch to the sump pump and an air valve so I can either use flood or mist/air at the throw of a switch. Hence, the 6 ports "just in case".
Thanks for looking,
Bruce
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2016
- Messages
- 3,289
More power (and light). I put in a new 120v / 20 amp circuit to the shop, 12 outlets and an emergency light.
I have a windowless basement shop so if the power goes out it gets really dark. I have been using a small LED lantern with a plug in emergency mode, but one of the local hardware stores had a real hardwired emergency light on clearance for $30 so I upgraded.
Late last year I hired an electrician to put in a subpanel, three 240v, 30 amp circuits and two 120v 20 amp circuits. With this new circuit my shop power should be complete. A grand total of 24 120v / 20amp outlets, 2 240v / 30 amp outlets and an emergency light so I don't kill myself if the power goes out while I'm in the shop. (The third 240v / 30 amp outlet is outside for use with the welder).
I really dislike doing electrical work, so had been putting this off, but now that it is done hopefully I can finally get back to playing with the machines.
One on the floor joist above the mini-mill, and electric press.
and the end of the line.
I have a windowless basement shop so if the power goes out it gets really dark. I have been using a small LED lantern with a plug in emergency mode, but one of the local hardware stores had a real hardwired emergency light on clearance for $30 so I upgraded.
Late last year I hired an electrician to put in a subpanel, three 240v, 30 amp circuits and two 120v 20 amp circuits. With this new circuit my shop power should be complete. A grand total of 24 120v / 20amp outlets, 2 240v / 30 amp outlets and an emergency light so I don't kill myself if the power goes out while I'm in the shop. (The third 240v / 30 amp outlet is outside for use with the welder).
I really dislike doing electrical work, so had been putting this off, but now that it is done hopefully I can finally get back to playing with the machines.
One on the floor joist above the mini-mill, and electric press.
and the end of the line.